Springfield roads to Little Rock? (Joplin, Mexico: motorhome, college, tornadoes)

[Paige in FL]

My parents are on the road, heading south right now, and need to know if Hwy 65 is full of twists and turns on narrow roads or if the roads have been widened as you go into Little Rock?

They're traveling with my 103 yo grandma, two dogs, an RV pulling a trailer and also driving a van! They want easy roads, but they're also trying to get somewhere warmer tonight before they camp.

I'm going to google earth the road and see if that shows anything. They'll be heading into the area around 1 pm, so I have an hour to get an answer for them.

Thanks for any help!

[Lake Junkie]

Oh my goodness, Paige...didn't see your post until now!

Please let us know how your parents did. The roads are pretty good, but I wasn't driving a van and an RV pulling a trailer with 2 dogs & a 103 yr old!!!

I hope they got somewhere warmer...me thinks they might have had to travel all night to do that, tho...

[mrschilicook]

That the roads are a mix of staight and twisted. We drive a 36 foot motorhome down hiway 65 about once a year headed toward Memphis and beyond. It's an ok drive, but it's not one that you will make in record time.

Hope your folks got there ok..

[warren49]

I too just noticed this question. It's a little bit out of the way, but you can take I-44 west to the Joplin area, then US 71 south. You would pick up I-540 (I think that is the number) just north of the Rogers/Springdale area, then go south to Ft. Smith, then go east on I-40 to Little Rock. That would be interstate or 4 lanes all the way, with the exception of a few miles of US 71 in the extreme southern portion of Missouri and the first part of Arkansas. I have driven the Springdale to Little Rock part several times over the past few years and it's an easy drive.

[Paige in FL]

My parents ended up going to Jonesboro before stopping, and made it safely here two days later. They decided against going through Little Rock. Since our temps here in Florida were dropping down to the low 30's, they knew they weren't getting away from the cold no matter where they went!

Now are temps are up to the high 60's so they've having a nice visit.

They were surprised at all the ice still in the Springfield area. I guess KC didn't get the same storm. They said the roads were clear for the trip, but ice was all over the trees and fields and looked beautiful.

We're hoping to move back up y'alls way late summer. We're planning on moving to Ozark for now. I'd love to eventually end up on the lake at Table Rock, but in due time. In the meantime, I'm going to have withdrawels from my beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

I went to college in Springfield, back then it was SMSU, and I still can't get used to the name change. I LOVE the area and am ready to come home.

Each time I look at a home up there I find myself thinking, "How would we cover all those windows for hurricanes?" or "Would we swim in that stream like that? What about the 'gators?" LOL. I guess it's going to take some time for my mind to get away from all the stuff we deal with here. We do swim, but you have to be alert all the time.

I'm used to tornadoes and snakes up there and such. We've had brown widow spiders here, rattle snakes in our yard, a neighbor bitten by a copperhead, we see sharks regularly while swimming (and have learned to get out of the water FAST!) and we've seen 'gators swimming, too. It's been a great experience, but I'm ready for a more sedate life in the rolling hills of southern Missouri.

I want my children to be able to run on soft green grass -- not sticky fake sod -- without stepping on horrible little sand spurs and nests of fire ants. I want to be able to swim without worries of 'gators and sharks and salt water. I want to be able to hear the rain without worrying about losing it all to a hurricane. (We're a block from the beach on a barrier island and have gone through three hurricanes in the 8 years we've lived here, and have evacuated twice, not knowing if we'd ever see any of our stuff again. That's not fun.)

I hope we get up there soon! I've fallen in love with two different houses and both have already sold. We're watching and know the perfect house will be available at the right time. I can't wait!

Thank you for reading my post and responding.